Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks

In this episode Mark sits down with author and journalist Geoff White about his latest book ‘Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks’.

Rinsed tells stories of money laundering online, from popular gaming like Axie infinity and Call of Duty to Backpage and Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixing service. And how cybercriminals use these different platforms to launder their illicit gains.

He also talks about larger than life characters that inhabit this space, like the Nigerian social media influencer, Hushpuppi, whose jet-setting lavish lifestyle came crashing down after it was revealed that he laundered millions of dollars for the North Korean Lazarus Group’.

Geoff has been investigating cyber and financial crime for some time, writing books and presenting podcasts on his work. He is best known for his research into the infamous “Lazarus Group”, connected to the North Korean state and responsible for some of the biggest (not just crypto) heists in history – such as the Bangladesh Bank cyberattack, the Axie Infinity hack and most recently Bybit Heist, which saw $1.5 billion in Ethereum disappear from the exchange.

Geoff talks about his book, the seeming blindness or indifference tech companies have towards their platforms being used by money launderers, and the challenge of writing books on this subject.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Intro

01:46 - Background to Geoff's book Rinsed

03:01 - The Intersection of Technology and Money Laundering

05:56 - General Blindness in Tech Industry

08:32 - Tornado Cash, Axie Infinity and North Korean Hackers

12:55 - Backpage, CSAM, Money Laundering

17:25 - Response to the Book from Tech World

19:00 - Resilience of Cryptocurrency & Pro-Crypto US Administration

22:54 - Lack of Ability to Control Illicit Finance

26:18 - The Evolving Threat of North Korean Cybercrime

30:01 - Hushpuppi: Social Media Influencer by Day, Money Launderer by Night

33:33 - The Challenges of Crypto Traceability

37:38 - Challenges of Writing on Money Laundering

40:58 - Characters that Left a Lasting Impact

43:19 - Discovering the Story

46:03 - What's Next?

49:44 - Why Books like Rinsed are still needed

52:11 - Importance of Security

54:11 - Upcoming Projects

54:53 - Outro

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Geoff White's book ‘Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks’ is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rinsed-Cartels-Crypto-Industry-Deadliest/dp/0241624835

Audible version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rinsed-Cartels-Crypto-Industry-Deadliest/dp/B0CWJMSTYG/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0

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